The Monster Hides Inside The Pages

12- What Just Happened??

As Ladonna, Nico, Nathen, Kai, and Orange walked to the cafeteria, Orange stayed behind the group, almost looking at them with a nervous look in their eyes. Kai looked behind them and walked slower, the others walking farther away as they caught up to Orange.

"Hey, kiddo," Kai said, placing a hand on Orange's shoulder. "You doing okay?" They asked. Orange was silent for a moment, wondering what to say.

"The... uh... the paper under my bed... It scared me to know Miss Willow was right there as I slept..." Orange muttered. Kai gently rubbed Orange's shoulder for comfort as they continued to walk.

"I understand. This is stressful. We're basically still kids, and we're all dealing with dream demons, psychotic counselors, homophobic camps, and a possible cult," Kai listed. Orange glanced to the ground.

"Hurry up, slowpokes! Ladonna's gaining speed!" Nico yelled at the two. Kai waved at him then quickly looked back at Orange.

"How about this; when we get back to the cabin, we can talk a bit more. Is that okay?" Kai asked. Orange hesitated but nodded, both racing into a sprint as they chased after the group. As they caught up to the group, Orange looked around at the attention Ladonna already grabbed from the other campers. Apparently, her yelling had caught everyone's interest in what was going on.

Who was Ladonna yelling at? Orange was too upset about what happened that they completely forgot. Orange moved through the crowd to see who was unlucky enough to be yelled at by Ladonna. Orange's eyes widened when she recognized a specific southern-ish accent that responded to Ladonna's screams, and as Orange got closer, their suspicions were, to their dismay, correct.

"Now, now, happy camper. I have no idea what you're talking about," Miss Willow said, entirely calm.

"No idea? No idea?! No idea?! YOU traumatized Nathen and me! YOU did something to Brad! YOU are a literal DEMON!" Ladonna screamed, her face already a bright red from anger that bubbled inside her.

"Silly child. Brad was sent home for unexceptional behavior. And I did absolutely nothing to you and your friend. Although, you might want to watch your words, happy camper," Miss Willow said, slightly wagging her finger as if to calmly scold a younger kid.

"Oh, what did he do? Expose you and your little cult?!" Ladonna yelled. Miss Willow chuckled. To everyone else, it might've sounded like an adult laughing at a child's joke they didn't understand, but to the Queer Group, they could almost feel their spines shaking from the chilling tone at the woman's laugh.

"Oh, Lamont. Such a dangerous imagination," Miss Willow said with a sweet smile. Ladonna's eyes widened as everyone looked at each other in confusion.

"What did you just call me...?" Ladonna asked, her voice dangerously low as she stared ahead.

"Lamont. You know, your name. Silly boy," Miss Willow said, her smile still stuck on her face. The Queer Group looked at each other. It took a moment, but it clicked.

"Miss Willow misgendered and deadnamed her on purpose!" Nico whispered. Small gasps erupted from the group, but Orange just stared ahead, eyes still wide.

"Miss Willow is doing this on purpose! She knows Ladonna has a temper when it comes to deadnaming! She's trying to get Ladonna to fight!" Nathen whispered to Kai.

"Why is she trying to fight Ladonna? Does she have a death wish?" Kai asked.

"She's going to get rid of her like how she got rid of Brad!" Nico whispered in horror. "This is just a cover-up, so the other campers won't ask questions!" Looking back at Ladonna and Miss Willow, everyone stared in horror, and a few stared with smiles, glad to see some real action.

"You're going to regret you ever called me what I'm not!" Ladonna screamed.

"What, and you're not?" Miss Willow replied with a smirk.

"No, I'm not!" Ladonna yelled. But before she could take a step forward, there was a sudden scream from the back of the cafeteria. Everyone turned, only to find Orange holding one of the cafeteria chairs high above their head, standing on a table where everyone could see. With an angered scream, the chair was launched out of their hands and hurled at Miss Willow. Everyone ducked, but Miss Willow didn't have time to as the chair hit her square in the chest, causing her to fall onto the floor with a pained yelp.

The group stared in shock as Orange leapt from the table and began beating the older woman. The hits almost didn't hurt Miss Willow, possibly because the lady was a bit obese, but somehow, Orange managed to hit arias of Miss Willow's stomach, face, and arms to get her to feel pain.

Everyone around the two started chanting as Orange continued to hurt the other, eyes filled with, for what Nathen could probably determine, rage. And something else. Nathen couldn't tell what, but there was another look in Orange's eyes as they continued to attack Miss Willow.

Wait a minute.

Nathen knew that look.

Was that...?

"Everyone back away from the scene! Right now!" Everyone moved out of the way to let Counselor Pax and another camp counselor run to Orange and Miss Willow to separate them. Orange kept thrashing around as the other counselor picked them up and took them outside while Pax helped Miss Willow to her feet. The Queer group continued to stare in disbelief at what they saw.

"Whoa. I didn't know Ranger could do that. Respect," Nathen said with a slight smirk, the look in Orange's eyes earlier vanishing from their mind.

"Wow. Just wow. Wait a minute, I was going to do that!" Ladonna said.

"Then Orange may have just saved your life," Kai said, looking out the door where Orange was taken. Ladonna was silent, thinking over what just happened. The argument, the deadnaming, the sudden rage she felt, the smirk on Miss Willow's face. Kai was right.

If Orange hadn't stepped in, what were they going to do to Ladonna?